Mankey Monkey Charity Auction – Thursday 29 Apr 2010

CELEBRITY MONKEY BUSINESS AT THE SEFTON PARK PALM HOUSE
Thursday 29 April 2010The evening starts with a complimentary drinks reception from 6.30pm before our hosts start the proceedings at 7.15pm.

T4’s and 4 Music’s Matt Littler and Darren Jeffries have been confirmed as hosts for the Mankey Monkey Grand Charity Auction in aid of Alder Hey Imagine Appeal.

The event marks the end of the hugely successful Mankey Monkey public art project. Since October, the people of Liverpool have been going bananas for the 3ft sculptures. Over 80 local businesses have taken part in the project by fostering monkeys to help raise money for the Alder Hey Imagine Appeal.

On the 29th April at the beautiful Palm House in Sefton Park, 40 monkeys will go under the auction hammer with all of the proceeds raised being donated to the local children’s hospital charity. With over 200 guests expected to attend the event including a number of local celebrities, the evening is set to be a glittering success.

Guide prices for the monkeys start from just £50 making it affordable and accessible for all Mankey Monkey fanatics. There will be a three-day preview event at the Palm House from the 26th April where visitors will have the rare opportunity to see all 101 Mankey Monkeys together. This will also be the last time they will be on display to the public before going to their new homes.

Local band Lightcycle will be performing at the event and renowned local catering company Carrington’s Catering has donated its services for the evening along with local property auction house Sutton Kersh. Andrew Binstock, one of the country’s leading auctioneers, will be responsible for bringing down the hammer to raise as much money as possible for the charity. Andrew was the auctioneer for the enormously successful Superlambanana event at which a record breaking £600,000 was raised. He also recently assisted Desperate Housewife Star Eva Longoria at a charity event at London’s Dorchester Hotel for the Make A Wish Foundation.

Local artist team David and Eirin Hallangen-Lake of Hallangen Art co-founded the Mankey Monkey project with Your Business eZine and It’s About Websites. David, now known as Chief Monkey Ambassador, comments “ This project would not have been possible without the amazing support from so many companies throughout Merseyside
and beyond – from the 80 monkey fosterers, to the countless others that have donated their time, services and products to this fun project. The success of the event has been phenomenal given that it has grown without one penny of public funding. We hope that people continue to support the event and dig deep to support the very worthy cause that this is all in aid of.”

Since the announcement of the auction there has been an overwhelming level of interest from people keen to secure their very own cheeky primate. Some of the most popular monkeys include “Shankly Monkey” that has been fostered by LFC. “Buddy Hollyoaks”, who is currently starring on Channel 4’s Hollyoaks! “Mersey Monkey”, fostered by BBC’s
Billy Butler Show which dons a host of celebrity autographs and that comes with a picture album of celebrities with whom he has been ‘papped’, and the iconic “Hey, Hey, We’re The Beatles”, the Mankey Monkey’s very own fab four.